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Education Curriculum

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The set of courses that a school, university, or other educational institution offers—and, at times, requires for graduation—constitutes its curriculum; these courses may be determined at the school or district level, but more frequently they are influenced by educational legislation and policy. RAND has investigated and advised policymakers on curriculum development in schools worldwide, including helping to redesign the entire curriculum for Qatar's K-12 schools and universities.

Personalized learning could lead to improved student outcomes. But those implementing this approach should temper their expectations for how big these benefits will be—and be patient while the benefits emerge. It's also important to consider the challenges of implementation.

Explore Education Curriculum

English language arts teachers could increase their use of more complex, text-based practices if they received clearer guidance from states and districts about what is expected. They also need better supports and curriculum resources to engage in those approaches.

Educators and policymakers are increasingly focusing on non-academic competencies, known as social and emotional learning. To support growth in these areas, teachers need assessments that can help them understand how well students are learning these skills, and what instructional approaches work best.

Students need more than proficiency in reading or math. Perseverance, active listening, empathy and good decision-making help kids succeed both academically and in life. Schools need access to high-quality social and emotional learning assessment measures to ensure programs will improve student learning and their futures.

This brief examines the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and evaluations of social and emotional learning (SEL) interventions to understand how states can use ESSA to support SEL and what SEL interventions meet ESSA evidence requirements.

Summer learning programs can provide academic support to students who need it the most. But they tend to be threatened when budgets are tight. Can integrating these programs into school districts' core priorities and operations improve their sustainability?

States have an opportunity to provide better instructional materials to teachers hungry for more resources aligned with state standards. By focusing on what they agree students should learn, states could work together to build curricula and shore up other key supports.

This report explores ways of measuring classroom coverage of content and practices in the Common Core State Standards for math and the Next Generation Science Standards to improve science, technology, engineering, and math education.

EngageNY Curricula is commonly used in New York—in part due to educators' desire to help students meet state standards. Survey data shows EngageNY gives students more opportunities to engage in standards-aligned practices compared with other materials.

Louisiana teachers are more likely to consult classroom resources that address their state standards, and they report teaching and thinking about instruction in ways that differ from the norms seen among teachers in other states.

State education leaders' efforts to align instruction with standards appear to be making a difference. Louisiana teachers regularly consult classroom resources that address state standards, and are teaching in ways that differ from the norms in other states.

In an era of dramatic change in education, the American Teacher Panel and the American School Leader Panel provide quick and easy access to nationally representative panels of teachers and principals—fulfilling the critical need for information on a wide range of educational topics.

This report is an audit of the then-current Department of Defense Education Activity mathematics program, built around standards established in 2009, to help prepare for a transition to Common Core State Standards, which began in 2014--2015.

Teachers can and should have the freedom to select and develop at least some of their own instructional resources. But whether sites like Amazon Inspire will actually save teachers time and help them find high-quality resources is up for debate.

Between 2003 and 2013, the proportion of California eighth graders enrolled in algebra or a more advanced course nearly doubled to 65%. In this article, we consider the organizational processes that accompanied this curricular intensification.

The concept of personalized learning has gained favor in recent years, partly because new technology applications help to facilitate it. But those who characterize this instructional approach as “students just using computers or other devices” are greatly oversimplifying it.

This study uses interview and survey methods to describe the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme's (DP) development of students' "academic civic mindedness" and "model citizenship" at four public schools in California.

This evaluation describes the Regional Choice Initiative (RCI), a large-scale initiative in 17 school districts in Pennsylvania. The RCI sought to expand school choice and offer more-rigorous courses for students in grades 7 to 12.

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Researcher Spotlight

Senior Policy Researcher

Louay Constant is a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and a professor at the RAND Pardee Graduate School. While at RAND, he has worked on a number of projects that have examined a range of social policy issues including K-12 education reform, postsecondary education and training, and…

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.